season startup

[Trojan]

Well I go in the water tomorrow 4/12. We are supposed to get SNOW. What happened to global warming? What happened to the early spring? What happened to the schmucks we call weather men. I sure hope my 6-71s will start with no heaters.
Any ideas on how I can help them? I think they will start but I'm not sure. I know they will smoke. I don't want to use starting fluid.
BILL

 

[Mike53C]

Make a mental picture of these beautiful beast roaring to life, belching smoke and all, a little uneasy at the begining and then settling to that awsome rumble. Have a positive mind. Pat and stroke the boat and the motors the way you would to a lover.
Now hit the switch and she will reward you.

Happy season!

Miguel

 

[SKYCHENEY]

We always used to shoot those 671n's on the trucks with a little ether. That'll do it. I'm sure, you'll get all the horror stories about ether from others on this forum, but on a tough engine like a 671n, I doubt you have to worry. We did it on a daily basis in the winter and never broke anything.

 

[Mike53C]

I have sprayed ether even on outboards, never had a problem. For sure a masive motor like a DD should be ok.
But just if the foreplay fails.

Miguel

 

[bigbill]

if you dont have block heaters, put a space heater in the engine room and warm it up a bit. they will fire right up. i had to do this on my old 46 for the christmas parades in south mississippi, it only gets cold like that about 5 times a year down here, but the 8v71s sure didn't like to fire up. bigbill

 

[chris piazza]

I know how you feel, I am going in tomorrow also, in Bay City and they are predicting 4-6" of snow tonight. I got 8-92TI's. I am coming out of heated storage so I am hoping the heat will stay in the blocks until I get them running.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Be carefull guys...In the fall, water is warm and the danger of freezing at air temps. below 32 are non-existant. in spring however, the water is cold and when you start those monsters, there goes your winterization on the sea water side. Lots of freeze damage occurs in spring with cold air temps.

 

[eze2bme]

I'm certain that you've thought of this ... but fully charged batteries are a necessity when starting cold DD's!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

As far as freezing goes, I think most will probably okay. It's when those temps stay below freezing for an extended period that I would be worried. Simply dropping down to 30 degrees for a couple of hours at night should not be a problem especially if it gets into the 50's during the day.

But as Maynard said, you'll have to keep an eye on it. The forecast is only an estimate of what is going to happen. Last night they were forecasting rain for today in Lansing. For far it has all been snow. Be careful.

If you have block heaters, use them. If not, a little ceramic heater in the ER on a thermostat might not be a bad idea until we get through this. If you are near the boat, you could always start and warm the engines up once a day as well just to be safe. Good luck. I'm glad now that my launch date isn't until the 24th.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

Now you had to KNOW this was coming.........

Here in Florida....

"Season startup" is what we do every Friday just before we leave the slip

 

[Mike53C]

Now you had to KNOW this was coming.........

Here in Florida....

"Season startup" is what we do every Friday just before we leave the slip

And down here, even better....Hehehehehe...sorry "cool" guys..

Miguel

 

[Pascal]

for us season startup is usually on january first around 1am... just before raising anchor after the fireworks.

the last run of the season is normally on december 31st, in the evening, going to anchor for the fireworks...

 

[chris piazza]

Actually I am more concerned with outside temps that water temp. Spoke with marina personnel this morning and they said water temp is 44. Like Sky said its only going to dip down below freezing for a couple of hours a night so I don't think it will lower the water temp at all. Now the outside temp is a different story. With wind chill it could be in the teens and that what I am worried about, I have a cockpit sink with water lines. I am sure the lines for the pressure water comes from the wet bar and thru the aft bulkhead and into sink. I am not going to pressurize the lines and I will leave the facet open,, I hope this works. As far as the engine room I got one of those oil filled radiator style heaters from wally-mart, that should take care of that.

Chris
Superior Nights 53C

 

[Trojan]

Boy you guys know how to beat-up a guy. Butttttttttttt, We don't have to hide our boats from the weather. ( hurricane )We pay less insurance and less for our slips. So we have more money to entertain and spend on fuel to cruise when we want. No dock queens in Michigan


BILL

 

[rswirtz]

I knew a guy on the Mississippi that used to winterize his water lines with vodka, and had fun opening them up in the spring.

 

[glsctr]

Hold the stop button while cranking the engine over. This allows the cylinders to heat up without filling them up with fuel. Then release the stop and keep cranking. You'll still have the blue smoke but they do start better. Spent alot of cold Autumns starting 6-71's this way.

 

[MikeP]

Does wind chill affect water temp? If it's 40 degrees and there is 20MPH of wind blowing, the affect on YOU as a warm-blooded organism is as if it's 30 degrees but does that apply to water in an engine or a pipe? I didn't think it did and it doesn't seem possible to me but I have never looked into this at all. I don't think air can cool water below the temp of the air, regardelss of the wind.

But I could be wrong...

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Does wind chill affect water temp? If it's 40 degrees and there is 20MPH of wind blowing, the affect on YOU as a warm-blooded organism is as if it's 30 degrees but does that apply to water in an engine or a pipe? I didn't think it did and it doesn't seem possible to me but I have never looked into this at all. I don't think air can cool water below the temp of the air, regardelss of the wind.

But I could be wrong...

You are right, Mike. And what really bothers me is that these weathermen try to get everybody all anxious over extremes. They like to exagerate extremes in temperature by showing wind chills or heat index figures. Who cares? Just give me the temp and the wind velocity. I can figure out what clothes to wear from that. I don't need a special indexed temperature to figure it out. I think they like to forecast extremes in weather just to get you to tune in more often and help out their ratings. Sorry of the rant.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

As far as freezing goes, I think most will probably okay. It's when those temps stay below freezing for an extended period that I would be worried. Simply dropping down to 30 degrees for a couple of hours at night should not be a problem especially if it gets into the 50's during the day.

But as Maynard said, you'll have to keep an eye on it. The forecast is only an estimate of what is going to happen. Last night they were forecasting rain for today in Lansing. For far it has all been snow. Be careful.

If you have block heaters, use them. If not, a little ceramic heater in the ER on a thermostat might not be a bad idea until we get through this. If you are near the boat, you could always start and warm the engines up once a day as well just to be safe. Good luck. I'm glad now that my launch date isn't until the 24th.

This weather in Michigan is pure, (well, you know what I mean). It seems to start later and last until June lately. When I was a kid, (that was a long time ago), winter was in full swing in December and over by March. Now we still freeze our a** off in June. Bah!!

 

[Trojan]

It snowed 4 inches last year the week after Easter. Had to brush the snow off the canvas and deck. I think mother nature has just got her calender bumped out of sequence. Same cycle this year. I don't think my reverse AC is going to heat with this water temp. If the Detroit's start they will warn things up a bit.


BILL